04-05 It’s Friday Dad

Dad was driving me to the D. B. Hood Public School on Dufferin Street in 1942, and before saying goodbye, I remember saying to him, "Its Friday, dad." He quickly reached into his pocket and gave me a quarter to buy my War Savings Stamp.
Every Friday in schools across Canada, teachers collected quarters from children and pasted stamps in each of their booklets. At the end of the War, I had five of them. Each booklet held 16 stamps that when full, had a value of $5.
I remember lining up to purchase my stamp and noticed my friend Doug Jones did not have a quarter. Mother had said his family was not as fortunate as ours.
The effort to raise funds to support Canada’s war effort was massive, and everyone was into the act. I can remember mother buying what they called Savings Certificates at a local bank branch. A $4 certificate would be worth $5 after the war, just like my booklet.
The promotion was endless. There were newspaper ads, radio spots and Disney cartoons at the movies, all promoting the purchase of war bonds, war certificates and war stamps. The government of Canada raised $12 billion from the public during WW2.
One Friday, dad drove my friend Doug and I to school. Doug usually drove his bicycle but said he had a flat and that his dad would fix it on the weekend. When dad gave me my quarter for my stamp, I told him that Doug did not have a quarter, so dad handed a quarter to Doug.
Years later when I was 17 and in grade 12, I went back to my old home on Bowie Avenue and found my friend Doug had left school and was pumping gas at a service station. He said he never forgot the day my father gave him that quarter.
In 1947 dad cashed in my five booklets of War Savings Stamps. He used the money to buy me a new bicycle. I could now ride five blocks to school instead of walking. It was also the year the family went to Ireland.